H.K. Top Court to Have Final Say on Abode Law, Government Says

By Stanley James -
Dec 13, 2012

Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal
will make the final decision on whether to refer to China’s
National People’s Congress’s Standing Committee to interpret the
law concerning right of abode, Rimsky Yuen, the city’s justice
secretary, said.

The government was clarifying media reports today that said
it was trying to influence the judicial process in a case
involving a domestic helper from the Philippines seeking
permanent residence in Hong Kong, he said.

In the case, Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal will decide
whether an immigration rule excluding foreign domestic helpers
from becoming eligible for permanent residence is constitutional
under the city’s Basic Law, the city’s mini constitution.

The Justice Department’s request for the court to refer to
the NPC committee to clarify the interpretation “absolutely
does not affect the rule of law,” Yuen said. “The ultimate
power to interpret the Basic Law is vested in the NPC,” he said